Lycus Sulci

THEMIS Image of the Day explores the nomenclature of Mars. Lycus Sulci = Sulci: subparallel furrows and ridges. Lycus: King Lycus of Thebes. Uncle of Antiope, he honored his brother's deathbed wish to bring the girl home to Thebes. Lycus marched his army to Sicyon, slew Antiope's husband and brought her home to a life of hardship and cruelty.
Lycus Sulci is a low lying area of ridges and valleys found to the northwest of Olympus Mons. It is not yet understood how this feature formed or how it relates to the formation of Olympus Mons itself. The VIS image above shows the ridge forms that are typical of this region. Nomenclature Fact of the Day: With the Cassini Spacecraft now in orbit around Saturn, we will be getting new images of the Solar System's largest moon, Titan. The IAU has already decided on the types of names for different features on Titan.